They were warned they would be driven around The Bend.
Still, it came as a surprise when Supercars series leader Scott McLaughlin "looked like a Gumby" as some of the biggest names came unstuck in their first crack at the category's newest track - The Bend in South Australia.
Holden gun Shane van Gisbergen - one of only a handful of drivers to have competed at the remote track - delivered an ominous warning before Friday's opening practice, saying rivals would be "caught out" by the Tailem Bend circuit, an hour outside Adelaide.
But it seems nothing could quite prepare drivers for their first taste of the $110 million circuit.